Israel kills two handicapped Palestinian women in air strike on home for disabled

The two disabled Palestinian women probably knew or understood nothing of the
Israeli air strike that struck a home for orphaned and severely disabled men
and women

Mubaret Phiilistine care home for Orphans and Handicapped in Gaza's Beit Lahiya district. A damaged wheelchair next to the crater caused by the missile that crashed through the building.Photo: ROBERT TAIT

Suha Abu Sada probably knew or understood nothing about the suspected Palestinian militants who lived in the flats above her and whose names featured on Israel's assassination list.

But it was she, not they, who suffered when a devastating Israeli air strike apparently aimed at the two men flattened the two-storey building where she was a resident in a charity care home for the disabled.

The pair – one a member of Hamas, the other of Islamic Jihad, according to a neighbour – were not at home at around 4.30am on Saturday when the strike found its target with deadly force.

Instead, the missile killed Suha, 47, and Ola Wishah, 30, two handicapped women who were among eight residents of the home run by the Mubaret Philistine charity, which accommodated orphaned and severely disabled men and women in the building's ground floor.

Four other residents and a supervisor were badly injured in the strike. Another two escaped because they were spending the weekend with relatives.

A smell of cordite still hung in the air when neighbours – alerted by a telltale gathering of flies – found Suha's bloodied body under a broken heap of concrete, six hours after the missile attack.

Cries of "Allahu akbar" rang out as the lifeless form – as small as that of a child – was dug out from the rubble, before being covered by a blanket and carried away on a stretcher.

Heart-rending evidence of the nature of the victims littered the scene – two bent and broken wheelchairs, a pack of incontinence diapers and story books appropriate for young children. A play area with swings outside was strewn with debris.

Witnesses said a drone fired two warning shots at the building moments before the fatal strike but said most residents would have been unable to respond in time.

The bombed out children's play area (ROBERT TAIT)

"Most of them are physically disabled and confined to their beds all the time, so they wouldn't have been able to leave the building," said Hamed Bakhri, 22, who described seeing a ball of flame come out of the building followed by a pall of black smoke.

"Even those who could move suffer from severe mental handicaps."

It was one of several air strikes on Saturday that killed 22 Palestinians. The latest Israeli assaults brought the death toll to over 120, according to local health officials, since Israel began a military offensive last Tuesday aimed at combating a wave of militant rocket attacks being fired from Gaza and degrading the military capabilities of Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the tiny coastal territory.

No Israelis have been killed in the rocket attacks, although many have sought safety in bomb shelters. The Israeli army says 538 have landed in Israel since Tuesday, while 138 have been shot down by the Iron Dome missile defence system.

Six men, aged between 21 and 58, were killed in a missile strike on Sheikh Radwan in the west of Gaza City on Saturday. Eyewitnesses said they were sitting outside their home at the time.

The Sheikh Radwan strike was a targeted attack on the house of the cousin of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas's leader in Gaza. Among those killed were two of Haniyeh's nephews.

With most of those killed so far said to be non-combatants – including many women and children – signs of international unease over civilian casualties began to emerge.

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, on Saturday called for “urgent, concerted international action to secure a ceasefire”, adding: “The current crisis only underlines the need for a fundamental transformation of the situation in Gaza, including the restoration of Palestinian Authority control, the opening up of legitimate movement and access and a permanent end to the unacceptable threat of rocket attacks.”

While Mr Hague repeated Britain’s backing for Israel’s “right to defend itself”, his words marked a softening of the “staunch support” that David Cameron offered Israel last week.

The Arab League has convened an emergency meeting at Mr Abbas’ request in Cairo on Monday while Palestinians and their supporters are discussing a draft resolution in the UN security council condemning violence against civilians in the conflict.

The UN’s High Commission for Human Rights has also weighed in by suggesting Israel is not doing enough to prevent civilian casualties.

“Even when a home is identified as being used for military purposes, any attack must be proportionate ... and precautions must be taken to protect civilians,” said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman.

Israel has responded defiantly, accusing Hamas of sheltering behind the civilian population and trumpeting a strike on a mosque in central Gaza on Saturday morning, which the army said was being used hide a weapons cache.

“Hamas terrorists systematically exploit and choose to put Palestinians in Gaza in harm’s way and continue to locate their positions among civilian areas and mosques, proving once more their disregard for human life and holy sites,” said Lietenant Colonel Peter Lerner, an army spokesman.

His comments echoed those of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who blamed Hamas leaders for civilian casualties.

The body of a handicapped 47-year-old woman being found in the rubble at the bombed care home (ROBERT TAIT)

"We develop defensive systems against missiles in order to protect our civilians and they use their civilians to protect their missiles," he said. "They fire indiscriminately at our civilians and our cities in order to attack them. Sometimes they hit soldiers by mistake. We strike at their armed forces and sometimes we hit civilians by mistake.

"Israel continued preparations for a possible ground invasion deploying more than 30,000 reservists, tanks and artillery equipment that have been transferred to the Gaza frontier.

General Moti Almoz, the army's chief spokesman, indicated that a ground incursion could be imminent.

"In parallel, we are preparing the next parts of the operation, readying the forces to enter on the ground," he told public radio.

As the booming sound of aerial attacks continued to resound around Gaza on Saturday, evidence of the damage wrought was clear even in areas where there had been no casualties. Manshia park in Beit Lahiya was struck twice at around 9am, destroying several trees which lay strewn on the roadside. Israeli missiles have been targeting open areas that are believe to have been used as rocket launch pads.

A few blocks away, a deep crater ringed by mounds of earth and concrete had been left by a missile that landed in a street running through a densely-populated residential neighbourhood.